Fun Questions to Ask Authors
Twenty questions for a book club night, an event queue or an interview: who they would cast, which character is closest to them, the research that went strange, and the ending they wrote and then dropped.
The questions
Open any question for the note
If your book were adapted, who would you cast in the main roles?
Why ask it
A generous opener, because it lets the author talk about their characters without defending them. The casting choices often reveal that the character on the page looks nothing like the one readers picture.
What's the weirdest thing you had to research for this book?
Why ask it
Authors accumulate strange expertise and rarely get asked about it. Expect coroner's reports, tide tables, nineteenth-century plumbing. It also tends to show how much of the research never made it onto the page.
Which character was the most fun to write, and which one fought you?
Why ask it
The pairing is better than either half alone. Villains and side characters are usually the fun ones, and the difficult character is often the one closest to the author, which they may or may not say out loud.
Which character are you most often mistaken for?
Why ask it
Sharper than asking which one they relate to, because it starts from what readers already assume. Authors have strong feelings about this, and the correction is usually more revealing than an agreement would be.
What scene was the hardest to get right, and what finally fixed it?
Why ask it
The second half turns a vague answer about difficulty into an account of craft: cutting a character, changing the point of view, moving it later. That fix is the most useful thing an aspiring writer in the room will hear.
Are there details in the book that nobody has noticed yet?
Why ask it
Rewards close readers and lets the author point out work they are quietly proud of. A dedication buried in a street name, a repeated object, a chapter count that means something. Ask it in a room that has read the book, not a general audience.
What do readers most often get wrong about this book?
Why ask it
One of the few questions an author cannot answer with a stock line, because it depends on the letters and reviews they have actually received. Watch whether the misreading annoys them or has come to interest them.
What ending did you write and then throw away?
Why ask it
Alternative endings almost always exist, and hearing one makes the published version look like a decision rather than an inevitability. Warn the room about spoilers before you ask, because the answer will contain them.
Where do you actually write, and what does the setup look like?
Why ask it
Deliberately literal, and the answers puncture the romantic version of the job: a kitchen table, a parked car, a laptop balanced on a laundry basket. Good for filling a lull after a heavier question.
Do you outline in detail, or find out as you go?
Why ask it
The oldest question in writing circles, and worth asking because most authors have refined a real answer to it. Push for what happens when the method breaks down, since that is where the honest part is.
What's the strangest reader reaction you've had?
Why ask it
Better than asking about their favorite fan letter, because strange invites the whole range: someone who named a pet after a character, someone who wrote to argue about a plot point, someone who read it in a hospital.
What did you cut that you still miss?
Why ask it
Almost every book leaves a favorite subplot or character on the floor. Authors mourn these quietly, and being asked is usually welcome. The cut also shows what they were willing to sacrifice for pace.
What's the least glamorous part of being a published author?
Why ask it
Demystifies a job people romanticize, and authors are candid about it because it is not a criticism of anyone. Expect answers about admin, travel, self-promotion or waiting months for a reply.
Which writers do you reread, and what do you take from them?
Why ask it
Rereading is a stronger signal than admiring, because it points at what they study rather than what sounds good to name. The second half moves the answer from a reading list to a technique.
What advice about writing turned out to be wrong for you?
Why ask it
Fresher than asking for the best advice they received, and it usually gets a specific rule they were told to follow and eventually ignored. Useful for anyone in the room who has been stuck obeying the same rule.
If you could give one of your characters a piece of advice, who needs it most?
Why ask it
Playful, but the character they choose is usually the one whose fate they found hardest to write. A light way into the book's themes without asking about themes directly.
What would you write if nobody knew your name was on it?
Why ask it
Gets past the answer about what they are contractually working on. Established authors often name a genre far from their own, and the gap between that and their published work is the interesting part.
What has changed in how you write since your first book?
Why ask it
Only ask of an author with more than one book, and it produces an account of growth that is concrete rather than sentimental. Faster drafts, fewer characters, less fear of cutting. Skip for a debut.
What question are you tired of being asked?
Why ask it
Costs the author nothing and often produces the warmest moment of the evening, because they have been waiting years for someone to notice. It also tells the rest of the queue what not to ask.
What are you working on now, as much as you're willing to say?
Why ask it
The qualifier matters. Many authors are superstitious about discussing a book in progress, or contractually barred from it, and the phrasing lets them decline without awkwardness.
Hosting an Author Well, at a Book Club or an Event
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the Conversation
Read the book, and know which parts the room reached
Authors can tell within two questions whether you finished it. In a book club, also check how far everyone else got, because a spoiler question asked to a half-read room ends the evening's discussion early.
Agree the spoiler line out loud
Say at the start that questions about the ending will come after a certain point, or announce them individually. The cut ending and hidden detail questions both need this, and it saves an author from having to police it themselves.
Send two or three questions in advance
The research question and the cut ending question both improve enormously if the author has had a day to remember specifics. It is not cheating, it is the difference between a vague answer and a good one.
Ask about the book you actually have
If you are talking to a debut author, drop the questions that assume a back catalogue. If the book is nonfiction, swap the casting and character questions for ones about sources, interviews and what they could not verify.
What to Leave Out
- Where do you get your ideas. It is the question authors name most often as the one they dread.
- Sales figures, advances, print runs, review scores and whether it will be a film.
- Asking whether the sad or violent parts happened to them personally, especially in front of an audience.
- How much of it is autobiographical, phrased as an accusation rather than a question about method.
- Requests to read your manuscript, or to pass it to their agent or editor.
- Comparisons to a more famous author writing the same kind of book.
- Asking about a bad review, a controversy or an old book they have visibly moved on from.
Running the Room
Open easy, then go into craft
Casting and research are warm-up questions that anyone can answer. The hardest scene, the discarded ending and what they cut all need the author relaxed first, and they will run longer, so put them in the middle.
Quote a line back before you ask
Reading two sentences aloud and then asking about them gets a specific answer, because you have handed the author something concrete to respond to. It also shows the room what close reading sounds like.
Let one answer become the discussion
A book club does not need all twenty questions. If the answer about a misreading opens an argument in the room, follow that instead of returning to the list.
Watch the clock on signings
If there is a queue behind you at an event, ask one question, not three. The good questions here are for a seated conversation, not a signing table.